Monday, May 22, 2006

We are going ahead and taking a huge step by placing our house on the market. We have our sights set on moving to Peru on July 26th. We have a lot to do between now and then, including working on the remaining 25% that we need for monthly support. But we are going ahead and moving in this direction because it seems wise to us and to our couselors to do so. {Big breath in, exhale out....} So, if you know of anyone in the market, we've got a great place for them! Please pray that our house would sell quickly! {P.S., We really love this place!}

Well, we finished off the school year with a great RUF conference at the snow white beaches of Panama City Beach. Students from various RUF chapters across the nation converged here for a week of fun, relaxation, and some serious study of the Scriptures.

Every morning, students attended seminars taught by various campus ministers on everything from pop culture to evangelism, apologetics to dating, and everything in between. Then they had the afternoon off to soak up the sun, play beach volleyball, build sandcastles (Texas A&M finished 2nd this year; of course, we were robbed!). Then, we all gathered for worship and heard a week's worth of sermons on the topic of Justification. John Stone taught the first week, and Brian Habig the second. You can listen to the sermons via podcast as well as messages from previous conferences.

Friday, May 12, 2006

One of the joys of this whole endeavor is watching God work in the lives of our friends as God stirs hearts to join us in this effort. I received the following letter from one of our students here at Texas A&M as he joins us in sacrificing for the sake of the Gospel. His letter was such an encouragement to us that I wanted to share it with you (with his permission, of course):

"Learning to trust in God in all aspects of life has been and continues to be a struggle for me. Yet our great God has proven Himself faithful whenever I have trusted Him above all else. I want you to know how instrumental you both have been in God's work upon my heart to learn to trust and obedience to His will and His calling.

"I have been praying for you and your family as you prepare for Peru and wait upon the Lord to provide money to go....I have been thinking and praying about it now, and though it has never been a question of whether or not to give, I have struggled with how much to give.

"Tomorrow is guaranteed to no one and the Lord calls us to give out of the generosity of our hearts in accordance to the needs of others. I cannot, no that is wrong, I am without the faith to give you all that I have to give, trusting that God would provide me (a huge sigh has just been exhaled). But in small faith I hope that my gift will be increased by God's grace and your faithfulness.

"Perhaps one day I will sell all my possessions and walk by faith alone, forsaking earthly cares for eternal vision, as the prophets of old. Or maybe my measure is something less grand, yet of good use. Whatever becomes of anyone like us, may God be glorified in our living this life we have been blessed to receive.

With Love and Hope,XYZ

How we are blessed and challenged to walk by faith as we watch our friends do so!

Friday, May 5, 2006

The latest tally is in and we are pleased to report to all our friends and supporters that we have 75% pledged toward our monthly support!!! A huge mile-stone, no doubt! We still have a ways to go, but the summit is in sight.

Please be in prayer for these four specific things...

1) Obviously, that God would continue building our support network of folks who want to be a part of this mission. We are amazed at the ways in which God is bringing this together right before our eyes. God is granting us favor in the eyes of our fellow Christians and churches. May He continue to do so.

2) We also need wisdom for all the details that need to be attended to that make my head spin. For example: when do we put our house on the market? We'd like to put it up for sale somewhere when we have between 80-85% pledged, but this entails knowing a departure date.

3) Along with this comes considerations about having a moving sale, as well as shipping a container to Peru with some of our belongings (and the all important books!). We need to ship stuff there about three weeks prior to when we want them to actually arrive in Peru.

4) We are praying specifically for a move-to-Peru date of July 26th. (That's the day after Kevin's 9th birthday: "Happy Birthday to you / you're moving to Peru!") Ambitious? Perhaps. Impossible? Nah! Don't forget Who moves mountains....

We had our last official RUF Gathering on Wednesday. It was a time for singing our favorite RUF songs, remembering God's goodness to us over the course of this academic year, and simply enjoing Christ & each other. We're going to miss these students like crazy, but rejoice for the time we have spent with them. It has truly been the highest honor of my life to be able to open the Scriptures every week and teach them about the supremacy and infinite worth of Christ and His redeeming love.

Our Graduating Seniors after Senior Share

Miranda Hanging Out with Michelle, Erin, & Ashley

Fun with the Aggies!

"Aggies Up! Longhorns Down!"

Thanks Aggies, for all the memories! You have challenged us, encouraged us, inspired us! You will be in our hearts forever. We love you and will miss you!

Monday, May 1, 2006

This past weekend, the South Texas Presbytery unanimously approved sending me as a missionary of the Presbytery to labor out of bounds in Peru. What this means is that I am still accountable to and must report back to my presbytery here. And they have given their unreserved blessings in this endeavor.

This is the blog of John & Heather Ferguson keeping you up to date about life & ministry among the students & parish churches of Peru (& whatever else strikes our fancy). After spending seven years with RUF at Texas A&M University, the Ferguson's have moved to Peru to aid in the work of renewing northern Peru with the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!